The present invention relates to a method and system for incorporating user mobility with the implementation of enhanced call service features at a remote location such that the PBX-like features can be accessed at any desired location.
During the past decade, the number of professionals that xe2x80x9ctelecommutexe2x80x9d (i.e., work at home or other xe2x80x9cvirtual officexe2x80x9d locations) has increased significantly. Although the proliferation of various types of computing and telephony equipment has enabled these workers to be effective, there remain a number of office-related advantages that cannot, without great expense, be duplicated at home. Additionally, in situations where an individual spends a significant amount of time traveling, it becomes even more difficult to provide certain advantages, such as PBX-based telecommunication features as are found in most conventional office environments. A private branch exchange (PBX) switch is commonly known in the art as a system useful in providing certain calling features such as abbreviated dialing, call transfer, hold, mute, and others, within an office complex served by the PBX switch. One exemplary PBX switch is the Definity(trademark) switch sold by Avaya, Inc.
A PBX switch may be located xe2x80x9con sitexe2x80x9d as customer premise equipmentxe2x80x94CPExe2x80x94(one example of CPE being the Definity switch sold by Avaya) or located within the communications network and used by one or more different customers. An exemplary network-based PBX is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,742,596 issued to Y. Baratz et al. on Apr. 21, 1998. With a network-based PBX, the various office locations may be referred to as xe2x80x9cremotexe2x80x9d in the sense that the physical office locations need to establish a link with the network-based PBX to obtain the desired functionality. The office stations themselves, however, are equipped with the traditional PBX station set equipment. The actual location of the PBX switch, therefore, is of no concern to the office worker.
In some situations, xe2x80x9ctelecommutersxe2x80x9d have incurred the expense of adding an additional phone line, or ISDN, to handle the increase in telephony traffic associated with working at home. While this solution is acceptable in some situations, it quickly becomes an expensive alternative for the employer. Further, the xe2x80x9ctravelingxe2x80x9d employee has no xe2x80x9chome officexe2x80x9d within which to install such equipment, remaining disadvantaged with respect to the personnel at a traditional work location. Indeed, the technology deployed at the home office may xe2x80x9clagxe2x80x9d the latest PBX-based innovations found in the office.
As described in our pending application Ser. No. 09/370,766, an individual at a location xe2x80x9cremotexe2x80x9d from the office may have xe2x80x9cPBX-likexe2x80x9d capabilities, with all communications being controlled by a remote office platform, linked to the remote worker. In particular, the remote office platform is linked to the office PBX system. Features such as abbreviated dialing for in-house calls, call forwarding, call transfer, hold, three-way calling, secretarial pick-up, and more, are provided at a remote location where an individual can connect to the remote platform and have a user interface display available. The graphical user interface (GUI), in a preferred embodiment, is a xe2x80x9csoft phonexe2x80x9d, displaying a PBX station-like set-up including a handset, call feature buttons, a message center, and the like.
The system as described in this pending application uses a remote office platform that communicates with both the office (or network) PBX and a data network coupled to the remote office location. The remote office platform includes the software necessary to xe2x80x9cpushxe2x80x9d the GUI to the remote device and also comprises a database including necessary information regarding each employee permitted to access the xe2x80x9cvirtual PBXxe2x80x9d system. Once activated by a remote worker, the remote office platform communicates with the office PBX so as to communicate all PBX-based requests from the remote location back to the office PBX. In the other direction, all incoming calls to the remote worker""s PBX extension are forwarded by the PBX to the remote office platform and, ultimately, to the remote location. The term xe2x80x9coffice PBXxe2x80x9d as used throughout this discussion is considered to include a customer-premise PBX, a network-based PBX (perhaps being shared by a number of different subscribers), or any other suitable PBX architecture.
In operation of this arrangement, a remote worker establishes authenticated communication with the remote office platform. Voice connectivity between the office PBX and remote worker can be provided over whatever telephony connection exists at the remote location (POTS over PSTN, cable, fixed wireless, among others). Data connectivity, used for transferring all call requests between the remote worker and the remote office platform, as well as enabling the PBX-like interface at the remote end, may be provided by any suitable data network including, but not limited to, the Internet.
Although the system as disclosed in our pending application is extremely proficient in allowing a xe2x80x9cremote workerxe2x80x9d access to many of the available office features, once the worker xe2x80x9clogs outxe2x80x9d of the system, all of the interconnect information is lost, and the worker must go through the entire process of logging in to be re-connected. While this is not very problematic for instances where the remote worker remains at the same off-site location, for those individuals that spend any quantity of time xe2x80x9con the roadxe2x80x9d or at multiple locations, it may become burdensome to constantly require the worker to reactivate the remote office system.
Thus, a need remains in the remote office environment for addressing the mobility of most remote workers, allowing such individuals to remain in communication with a remote office platform.
The need remaining in the prior art is addressed by the present invention, which relates to a method and system for incorporating user mobility with the implementation of enhanced call service features at a remote location such that the PBX-like features can be accessed at any desired location.
In accordance with the present invention, mobility is incorporated into a remote worker""s environment by allowing the individual to enter a mobile number prior to ending an interconnect session with a remote office platform. Once the individual terminates a particular remote session, the stored mobile number associated with that individual will be used by the remote office platform to maintain an active session with the remote worker. In particular, a mobility process is created and maintained at a central server in the network so as to run in background mode, transparent to the user. When an individual terminates a remote session, the process will be triggered to initiate the mobile session. Thus, until the worker terminates the mobile session, the mobile number will be used by the remote platform to maintain contact with the remote worker. In one embodiment, the process may be implemented as a Java script applet, although other implementations are possible.
In accordance with the present invention, the mobile number is used only when the remote worker is not logged into the system; the mobile number remaining inactive, but ready to be re-activated once the individual ends the session. The worker may, at any time, change the mobile number stored within his data record at the remote platform database.
Other and further aspects of the remote worker mobility features of the present invention will become apparent during the course of the following discussion and by reference to the accompanying drawings.